Tyronna Hooker named executive director of Alamance Achieves

Earlier today we issued the news release below announcing. Tyronna Hooker, a former Alamance County Teacher of the Year and former North Carolina Teacher of the Year, has been named executive director of Alamance Achieves. She starts June 26.

Former N.C. teacher of the year named Alamance Achieves executive director

Tyronna Hooker is a former social worker, taught at Graham Middle School

BURLINGTON, May 31, 2017 – Alamance Achieves announced today that former North Carolina Teacher of the Year Tyronna Hooker has been named executive director of the initiative.

“Tyronna has a passion for children and education, which she combines with extensive professional experience in classroom teaching, social work and education policy,” said Mac Williams, president of the Alamance Chamber and a member of Alamance Achieves executive committee, which hired Hooker. “She understands the collaborative approach we need to strengthen the grid of community resources to help prepare children for school, ensure they succeed and support them as they embark on careers.”

For the last four years, Hooker has worked for Teach For America, helping school systems in 16 school districts recruit, hire and train new teachers. She has also worked as an adjunct education professor at N.C. Central University.

“In my career, I’ve seen that kind of positive impact that education can have in children’s lives,” Hooker said. “Unfortunately, I’ve also seen what happens when that positive impact is absent. Alamance Achieves is a great opportunity to strengthen collaboration in Alamance County and ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed.”

Hooker worked at Graham Middle School as a teacher for 10 years, and was named the ABSS Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011. She advanced to become a regional finalist and then was named North Carolina Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 academic year. In that role, she served as an advisor for the State Board of Education, traveled the state as a representative of the teaching profession, and served on education committees and task forces.

For about eight years prior to becoming a teacher, she worked as a correctional officer and then a parole officer for the state, and as a child protective services investigator for the Alamance County Department of Social Services.

Hooker has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from NCCU and a master’s degree in special education from Elon University.

Hooker starts her new position June 26, but was in Burlington Wednesday to be introduced to the Community Transformation Council, a group of community leaders who have provided vision and direction for Alamance Achieves.